Council apology as bins left unemptied

Fife Council has apologised to residents after 220,000 bins were left unemptied during Storm Darcy.

Local authority bosses have thanked the public for their “patience and understanding” during the wild weather which left towns across the region in turmoil after heavy snowfall.

Bin collection services were out of action for four consecutive days because of the impact of the storm and only resumed on Monday.

Fife Council’s waste team uplifts more than 50,000 bins a day across Fife, leading to a backlog of around 220,000 by the beginning of the week.

Ken Gourlay, head of Assets, Transportation and Environment, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the disruption to bin collections due to the severe weather conditions and thank residents for their understanding and patience.

“We know that this is a very difficult time for many people, for a range of reasons.

“We’d also like to thank people across Fife for continuing to recycle during these challenging times – we appreciate all your efforts.

“Our Waste Team is working extremely hard to keep up with bin collections. Since Monday we’ve been back to picking up all blue, grey, brown and green bins.

“Crews will use any spare capacity daily to return to missed customers on our assisted collection service who are our most vulnerable and unable to manage their own waste. Our crews are very busy carrying out this week’s duties, so, unfortunately, can’t take on additional uplifts.

“Customers who had a bulky uplift booked will have their items lifted this weekend – February 20 -21.”

With Fife Council’s waste operations already operating from 6am through to 9pm on weekdays, the public have been asked to remain patient as workers try to catch up with the backlog.

The council has also issued guidance on what should be done to reduce excess waste.

It includes washing and crushing plastic and metal cans, especially plastic juice and milk bottles and flattening cardboard boxes.

Residents are also being asked to take any excess recycling to more than 300 recycling points in Fife.

DRIVING SNOW: Storm Darcy took a heavy toll on motorists and residents.